Around this new form of contemporary art John Orion Young created a very special world: “Joy World”, which, as he explains: it is a creative and magical space of other realities, a place to experience the works of art you own. Yours will be a work of art, breathing, decentralized, autonomous, virtual, living on the blockchain”.
Scarab experiment is an even more revolutionary project. Here it is the technology itself that becomes – according to the intentions of the project – art itself: blockchain art. The goal is to create an artistic entity called "Scarab" through the collective work of a number of "decentralized" artists. In practice, an algorithm processes a thousand artistic contributions sent to the platform, combining them to obtain a single work.
It is a "chain" digital process based on blockchain technology through which each sent work of art is integrated with the work that precedes it: at the thousandth send, the cycle ends and the result obtained, i.e. the work of art Scarab entity art and ready for production. Chain that according to the project will be repeated only 50 times, thus limiting the production of the Scarab entity to only 50 works.
In short, at the center of the performances just described is a new technology – the blockchain – which some describe as the "new internet". In practice, an ultra-secure and above all "decentralized" encrypted peer-to-peer network system and for this reason destined to revolutionize not only finance, the economy and administrations, but gradually all sectors starting with the cultural one, as demonstrated not only by the attraction of digital artists for its innovative and destructive strength but also by the great interest that the art market immediately showed for three strong points of blockchain systems: cryptographic security - to avoid fraud and counterfeiting - the use of cryptocurrency and the possibility of implementing new business models.
According to various estimates, art collectors are more skeptical and risk-averse today than in the past. Over 60% say they are afraid of buying fakes and want ever more precise and detailed information on the origin of the works. To give dealers, auction houses and collectors all the guarantees of maximum security, The Artory Registry has created a platform based on blockchain technology capable of uniquely registering and then tracing the origins and various passages of the works of art, eliminating any opacity and every doubt.
In June 2018, the world's first sale of blockchain art was launched on the Maecenas platform, a Singapore-based start-up. The work up for auction: 14 small electric chairs by Andy Warhol from 1980 in silkscreen ink and polymer paint on canvas. Thus began the revolution of the fractional sale of works of art through the purchase of pieces of the work represented by "token art", i.e. digital certificates. In this way, 31,5% of the 14 small electric chairs were sold for a cryptocurrency value of approximately $5,6 million.
Maecenas CEO Marcelo Garcia Casil said: “We are making history. This event marks the first ever artwork to be tokenized and sold using blockchain technology. We are proud to be pioneers in this space. We are embarking on this exciting journey together with our strategic partner Dadiani, who not only fully supports our vision but will also play a key long-term role in helping us transform the art market.” Indeed, the use of the blockchain and tokenization (fractioning and selling works of art using cryptocurrencies) indicate the emergence of a new business model based on easier access to the art market, on investment diversification and on the reduction of transaction costs that could – effectively – start an art market revolution.
Towards a potential enlargement of the number of investors in works of art, he pushes also another platform based on the blockchain: Portion. On his website there is an invitation to all to become art collectors: “Portion connects art, luxury and cryptocurrency. Through Portion's smart contracts and distributed technology, art and collectibles enter a free market”. The strong idea of the platform is to present itself as a sort of eBay for the art market allowing anyone to set up their own auction, with the aim of making artistic investment increasingly accessible.
The Blockchain effect on the art world is evident. Decentralized creative art projects and fractional auctions of works using cryptocurrencies are increasingly in demand. However, there are also those who express some skepticism about the ambitions of blockchain platforms to transform the art market. For example, at Deloitte's Art Finance on the art and collectibles market in October 2018, more than one criticism was raised regarding the transition to Blockchain management of the market. In particular, the perplexities concerned the closed and unchangeable nature of the traces recorded with the new technology which could make permanent - with evident damage - a whole series of inconsistencies and inaccuracies within the data entered. For this reason, the need to implement regulations that guarantee maximum reliability and consistency in the use of blockchain technology was underlined by the stakeholders.
